"What would you like best?" Count Friederick asked Marian, once Robin left with Much to secure monk's robes. "Everything I have is for your pleasure. Do you desire a manicure perhaps?"
"My nails are bad," Marian admitted. "I've always tried to keep them nice, but living in the forest... Why do you think Robin said only six robes?"
The count was amused. She was like her husband, he thought...focusing on the mission when there was so much else to enjoy. "It is obvious," he answered. "Six robes for six men."
"Djaq and I aren't men. What will we go as?"
"I think you will not go at all. Now, what do you say to a ride in my coach? I can show you the sights, in comfort." He hoped she would choose this. He could pull down the shades, and be completely alone with her. And then, perhaps...!
But she disappointed his plan of seduction. "Excuse me, Count," she said politely. "I need to speak with Djaq."
He sighed as he watched her go.
Marian found Djaq seated outdoors on a terrace overlooking the lake. Will sat beside his wife, whittling something in wood with the tools of the region.
"Will loves it here," Djaq told Marian. "I find it beautiful, but these mountains make me feel closed in."
"Perhaps because you were a prisoner so long," Marian guessed correctly. "Djaq, why do you think Robin said he would bring only six robes?"
"He did not tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Marian felt something unpleasant begin to gnaw at her insides. It only grew worse when she saw Djaq and Will exchange worried looks.
Will put down his work to explain. "Robin thinks it's too dangerous for you and Djaq to go to Aggstein. He asked us how we felt about it, and we agreed for Djaq to stay here."
"He asked you?"
"I understand how you feel," Djaq said. "At first I thought it a waste, since I travelled all this distance and could not help. But with Will's child within me, I agreed to wait here."
"I am not expecting," Marian said. She could not believe Robin not only wished to exclude her, but had deliberately avoided telling her. How dare he? Excusing herself, she returned to the count.
"I would like that ride in your coach, if the offer still stands," she told him. "Could we head to the monastery first?"
"It is my wish to fulfill your every desire," he answered her.
She hoped the coach might overtake Robin and Much along the road. But there was no sign of them. Reaching the monastery, Marian guessed they had already gone inside.
"Tell the driver to stop," Marian said. "We need another robe."
"You wish for me to go inside and get it for you?"
"That is exactly what I want. You said my every desire."
The count smiled. Securing her a robe would be easy, and it did not mean she would be permitted to wear it. "I will return before you have time to miss me," he told her gallantly. "Auf wiedersehen."
He returned almost immediately with a robe.
"Thank you!" Marian was pleased. "Robin should have allowed you to get the robes instead of doing it himself. Did you see him inside?"
"No. I believe he's still trying to persuade them. It is true, he should have sent me. The monks refuse me nothing. Every year I donate large sums to their order."
"Robin wants to make confession and take communion while he's here. He used to miss the sacraments, until a friar joined our gang and began administering them. Before that, he either had to forgo them or take tremendous risks. He was once captured in a church in Nottingham, making confession to a priest he had robbed two days before."
"Since he is free, it is very amusing!"
"Don't make me smile. I'm angry at him."
"Be angry, but smile anyway. You are beautiful when you smile!"
"Your country is beautiful. I never dreamed mountains could be so breathtaking." She gazed out the window, placing a hand across her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun.
"The sun bothers you?" the count asked. "Permit me to help." He reached across her and pulled down the shade.
"But now I cannot see."
It became even harder to see...impossible actually, when he pulled down the shade on his side of the coach. "Dust from the road," he explained. "At last we are completely alone!"
"I thought the purpose of this ride was to show me the scenery."
"And to get your robe. Both have been accomplished. And now, we are alone. You do not wish to be alone with me?"
"I'd rather view the countryside."
"I think I must convince you otherwise." He lifted her hand, but rather than kissing its top as he'd gallantly done again and again, he turned it over and placed his lips first on her palm and then on her wrist. His eyes questioned hers in the semi darkness of the coach, but received a surprised, angry look in return.
Marian pulled her hand indignantly away. "What are you doing?" she demanded to know.
"Making a pass at you. I find a coach to be a most romantic place for love. The gentle jogging of the wheels serves to increase one's pleasure."
"I'm married!" Marian reminded him.
"So much the better! You were a maiden when we met before. Now, you have some limited experience and are not so shy. I mean no offense. I only want to please you."
"I thought we were friends!"
"We are! The very best kind of friends. But I see I have misjudged you. Forgive me, Lady Marian. I thought perhaps you might like me more than you do."
"I like you very much. But that doesn't mean I want to..."
He pulled the shades up, letting in the sunshine. "My loss," he said. "You are charming. You are both bold and prim, and it is an intoxicating combination! You do not hate me, I hope, for desiring you?"
"I don't know what to think. I don't hate you. But I am insulted."
"Most women are honored."
"I am not most women. And I love my husband."
"It shows in the way you look at him. I meant neither of you disrespect. It is often the way, a romantic interlude with an experienced man of the world can add spice to your marriage."
"My marriage has plenty of spice already, if you must know."
"Lucky Robin Hood! Please do not be angry at me. I will not make another pass at you, until I am sure you want me to."
"Then you will never make a pass. I am loyal to my husband."
"I am loyal to my wife, but that doesn't mean-"
"You're married?"
"Of course! You did not think me a bachelor, surely."
"I did. You surprise me. Where is your wife?"
"In Munich, with the children."
"You have children?"
"Seven. They are quite noisy. If they were here, your headache would be much worse."
Marian couldn't help but laugh. "You are not what I thought you."
"But still your friend?"
She sighed. "Yes. We will always be friends...the very best kind, as you say. Friends who enjoy one another's company, and want what is best for each other. You're lucky I didn't hurt you. You don't know what a good fighter I am."
"I remember the skittles, however."
It began to grow suddenly dark, as clouds blew in.
"Driver!" the count said, pounding on the roof of the coach. "Fahr schneller! You, Lady Marian, are about to witness one of our famous summer storms. The lightening is tremendous over these mountains, particularly over the lake. I fear the trip to Aggstein must be delayed until tomorrow."
Good, Marian thought. It would give her time to confront her husband, and make him agree to include her in his plans.